Nintendo opens up about their approach to handling hurtful user posts in Splatoon 2
In Inkopolis Square, the main hub of Splatoon 2, players can share their fan art, in-game memes, and helpful tips with other users. This builds a sense of community amongst players, and helps the Splatoon universe feel vibrant and alive. Unfortunately, this also means that some flagrant messages find their way into the game’s lobby, and within the multiplayer maps where these messages also appear.
Speaking with Kotaku, Splatoon producer Hisashi Nogami explained that posts that receive more “likes” naturally appear more often; in theory, this means that the system can be used to upvote hateful comments “kind of like the real world.”
“We really don’t want people to use the plaza here as a way to hurt people or say hurtful things to other people or do anything considered against the law.”
While a portion of the development team is responsible for “spotting the worst offenders,” Nogami said the group is small. Ultimately, user posts are phased out through the game’s normal process.
“We know a lot of topics are something someone feels positively about and another person might feel negatively about . . . We don’t want to bring the hammer down too hard on everything. And so as long as something hasn’t risen to the top for the wrong reasons, something that’d be violating the [game’s] rating for some reason, we try and let the system basically sort it out. We really hope that people use this system as a means of communication and celebrating the game.”
